Tag Archives: Food & Dining

Street cart noodle is undoubtedly one of the cultural icons of Hong Kong. Made popular in the 1950s by street vendors peddling their wares using carts, street cart noodle continues to be a popular staple for Hong Kong today, and can be found everywhere.

I am a BIG fan of street cart noodle. Cart noodle is a kind of à la carte meal – you pick the kind of noodles that you want, the soup base you fancy, and the kind of ingredients you like to go with your noodle. The sheer options available can be mind-boggling especially to tourists, but it is a great big joy of an eat for gluttons like me.

So when my friend brought me to this nondescript stall at Taipo for a spot of street cart noodle for lunch one day, I couldn’t resist.

And oh my, what a bargain! There was a queue of course, but that’s mainly because the very reasonable price charged. You pay based on what kind of ingredients you want to go with your noodle.

Great Greek dinner at a restaurant named after our favorite island! The food at Santorini Hong Kong was amazing, especially the moussaka (pictured below) with the light-as-air mozzarella top and intense minced meat. The chef is Greek and the place a great reminder of what we left behind at the end of that amazing summer holiday (of which I have yet to blog about!)

Now I wish I had taken more notes of my great dinner that night. Definitely worth a visit, even if you are new to Greek food. Check out their online gallery to see for yourself the beautiful restaurant.

But it has been months since my last Secret Ingredient meal, so for new year’s eve, I decided to splash it out for a premium range meal – Armani | Aqua’s US black angus steak with cabernet & salish salt seasoning, panzanella salad & sherry vinaigrette. Secret Ingredient partnered with Chef Andrea of Armani / Aqua for this particular dish.

I have been meaning to write about my Bangkok trip in September, detailing what happened day by day. But after a lapse of some two months and, coupled by the fact that how my seven days in Bangkok blurred into each other, it would probably be more worthwhile for yours truly to focus on the more blogworthy aspects of my trip in September.

Of course, top of my list is FOOD!

To my surprise, Bangkok has more to offer than just the good old Thai food. Perhaps that’s because the last time I visited was in 2006. My spending power was considerably less, so I don’t get too many options to spoil myself with.

But this trip was different. I get to try, try, and keep trying.

Seafood Dinner @ Bangkok’s Chinatown

Easily the best meal for the trip was the first night when we headed down to Bangkok’s Chinatown for a huge dinner of seafood. The wait wasn’t that long, the crowd was jolly, the service was friendly, and all of us were in great spirit.

All those, of course, would be pointless if the food were less than spectacular. For about HKD100 per person, every dish was good till the last drop.

There is just something very special about hairy crabs and its season in Hong Kong. The decidedly local culinary delight is usually consumed by the kilos mainly between the autumn and winter seasons.

First of all, of course, there are the crabs. Our famous clawed friends were originally famous as a Shanghai cuisine and are prized for the female crab roe. According to the Chinese, the meat itself was believed to have a cooling effect (yin) to the body. Depending on season and origin, a piece of hairy crab can cost as much as HKD200 upwards.

Yes, you have read the post title correctly. I have been wanting to write this post for some time now, and have been making notes over the weeks to make it useful to you.

This is for you who, like me, wants to be on a diet (in order to lose weight) and to live frugally (i.e. to spend only where necessary, when it comes to food) especially during the working week.

This is how you, my friend, can plan your meals for a week of five working days and spend less than HK$250. Yes, that’s two hundred and fifty Hong Kong dollars.

Breakfast – choose and eat wisely.

As the first meal of the day, you need that kick start your day right. We all know how important the first cup of coffee is, and what’s more wonderful than to hit up the nearest Starbucks or Pacific Coffee? But, be warned; each of those lovely grande-sized coffee sets you back at least HK$30 a piece. Doing that daily, even if only on working days, can make a sizable dent in your budget.

Okay, these are not necessarily true, but for someone who is as novice to Vietnamese cuisine as yours truly, this is as good as it gets. So when I first moved into Sheung Wan and discovered that there is a Pho Tai Vietnamese Restaurant just a few steps from my gym (how apt, work your ass off and then haul it into a healthy joint), I made it into one of my frequent haunts.

Hong Kong is a dessert heaven. Even if you do not have a sweet tooth, like yours truly, it is hard not to be impressed by the array of desserts available here. Honeymoon Dessert is arguably the most famous homegrown brand of a chain of dessert house.

With one outlet located right below my building at Western Market, who am I to say no to the lure of all the things sweet thing which is just the right indulgence to pamper myself after a long hard week?

When I first moved to Hong Kong in mid of summer 2009, I couldn’t understand why the locals were overjoyed with the soaring temperature. What was so great with stinky armpits and sweaty foreheads? Perhaps I have lived in Singapore for too long, summer is a “year-long” season for me.

Then came winter, of which I enjoyed tremendously. Donning outfit after outfit of winter bests, seeing your own breathe fogging up right in your face were new experiences to me.

Too soon winter was over, and suddenly it is hot all over again in Hong Kong. But this time round, I start to see this season of holiday through a Hong Kong-er’s eyes, and begin to understand why summer in Hong Kong can only be described as fabulous.

It is the beaches. With over 200 outlying islands, and a long coastline full of spectacular bays and beaches, there are more than enough beautiful beaches in Hong Kong to frolic your days away at.

So I don my new swimming trunk (thanks Dennis!) and slap on luxurious amount of sun block, and off to the beaches I went to explore.